Guard rails are installations that prevent passage in hazardous areas where a fall or other harmful conditions exist. Guard or safety rail systems have been commonly used in the past to prevent workers or other persons from falling from elevated areas such as roofs. Some fall prevention systems are temporary, such as those used during construction of a building to prevent workers from falling from the rooftop during construction. Permanent safety rails on building roofs are often not considered to be aesthetically pleasing and to detract from the beauty of the building. Safety rails are thus sometimes made to be removed when not in use so as to be out of sight except when someone is using a roof or elevated area. Some workers on a new construction job are required to wear a harness having a safety line when working close to the edge of elevated surfaces. New safety requirements require that workers or other persons on a roof not be within six feet of a building precipice or edge as a safety precaution which makes it difficult to remove and replace safety rails especially on short notice.
A collapsible rail fall prevention system such as taught by the present invention allows the rails to be collapsed and out of view until needed at which time they can be remotely raised or lowered without being within six feet of the edge of the building roof.
In the prior U.S. Patent Application Publication No. US 2006/0278472 to Kenton et al., a collapsible safety rail system is provided for a portable or permanent protective barrier to provide for fall prevention from an elevated work area. This collapsible safety rail requires a workman to unpin a detent pin and fold each hinged rail. This in turn requires a workman to be adjacent the edge of the roof in order to raise or lower the safety rail which places the workman in the danger area for a fall.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,749,436 to Satchwell, III, a collapsible railing for mounting on a vehicle roof is provided which has a railing and a plurality of collapsible stanchions.
The Murray U.S. Pat. No. 6,053,281, is for a roof perimeter safety rail system for installation about the perimeter of a rooftop work site. The rail system has removable stanchions for connecting a cable therebetween. The Allemane U.S. Pat. No. 4,520,898 is for a folding guard rail for a platform. The rails can be erect and can be folded down over the platform and has a key to immobilize the guard rail either in its normal position or in it folded position.
The Shorey et al. U.S. Pat. No. 7,028,990 is for a temporary rooftop and stairway safety rail safety system adapted to prevent workers from falling from a work surface at a height. The pitch of the vertical extending support members can be adjusted to the slope of the work surface with removable pins.
The present invention is for a folding guard rail designed to be raised or lowered at its base by a single individual from an acceptable safe distance to comply with OSHA or related safety regulations. The individual who is raising or lowering the assembly is protected from being exposed to the hazard that the guard rail, when raised, is designed to eliminate. The rail system can be remotely collapsed and erected remotely by a worker without the worker working in or entering into the danger area adjacent the edge of the elevated area. A protective safety barrier is easily erected and collapsed remotely from several feet away from the safety rail edge of the roof or work surface.